Sunday, January 8, 2012

The Israeli experimental trio EFT (Electro Free Trio), which consists of guitarist Ido Bukelman, electronics manipulator Daniel Davidovsky and drummer Ofer Bymel, released its debut album recently on the excellent OutNow label. Probably the most adventurous music ensemble on the local scene, the trio presents a completely unique amalgam of Noise, high power distorted Rock, Jazzy improvisations and a plethora of electronically generated sounds, all these spontaneously created during a process of telepathic musical conversation. Although basically belonging to the Improvised Music genre, the music is somewhat different from the typical IM setting, which usually originates in Jazz, as it is more related to Rock and its experimental area. Of course the nature of such personal and intimate music is often completely impenetrable and remains valid mostly to its creators. The music presented here, although often difficult and definitely nontrivial, manages to be communicative to those, who are ready to make the intellectual effort and open their ears and minds. One must of course commend the courage and determination of these young musicians to create such highly distinctive music, risking alienation and misinterpretation by critics and audiences alike. It´s great to have such music recorded and released, against all odds, and hopefully in time the circle of connoisseurs able and willing to make an intellectual effort it requires will steadily grow. This is an album definitely worth investigating, especially for those more adventurous listeners out there!

Fierce guitar-fueled improvisation from Tel Aviv
but where Ido Bukelman drops off and Daniel Davidovsky
steps in on electronics is blurred beautifully.
Often I bolted my ears to Ofer Bymel’s drums, and
then just enjoyed the ride through shrill hills of
feedback and lightning sprawls of sound. On the
closing track, Bukelman lays down the electric guitar
to jangle mangle on acoustic for a bit, drifting
into a softer phase of harmonics versus miniature
dissonants. The guitar ramps up with a spanish
frenzy, Bymel spinning bicycle gears into the
mix, and Davidovsky casting a subtle wailing pall
over the piece. That and “Teething” were the two
more mellow pieces, the latter a great showcase
of Davidovsky’s mastery over chaos. “Soul Cramp”
is a nice rise and fall in dynamics. “Step Your
Mind” prolongs the tense excitement of a horse
ready to burst out of the blocks, a dominant
humming drone holding back the sonic onslaught.
This is the KFJC debut for Bukelman and Out Now
Recordings, with plenty more to come!??